The Daily Star
Brian Gorlick
February 04, 2020
Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh waiting to receive aid. FILE PHOTO: REUTERS/MOHAMMAD PONIR HOSSAIN
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) order on provisional measures issued unanimously by a full bench of seventeen Judges on January 23, 2020 in the matter of The Gambia v Myanmar is historically significant and an important development of international law. It recognises and highlights the need for protective measures for the Rohingya residing in Myanmar, and by extension those several hundred thousand Rohingya refugees seeking asylum in Bangladesh. While this preliminary ICJ decision has been applauded by several governments and countless jurists and activists and of course the Rohingya community, it will not solve the Rohingya refugee crisis.